Skulduggery Pleasant - She's back
by goXve
Summary: Valkyrie is being haunted by Darquesse's ghost/memory and she is planning to take over Valkyrie. Will she succeed? Only time will tell...
1. She's back

**Warning! This story takes place _after_ the events of the latest SP book " _Ressurection_ ". If you have _not read that far in the series yet_ , I reccomend you to either _not_ read this story or _go read the book first_ before reading this if you do not want any spoilers! Thanks in advance! And please, do leave some reviews and tell me what you think! :)**

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"I know you miss _the power_. I can see and hear it, how the thoughts roll around in your head. I am a part of her, you know. Which means I am also a part of you. I have all her memories and some parts of her powers, although I am unfortunately not as strong as her."

Valkyrie tried to ignore Darquesse, but it did not work that well. She knew that what she said was true, even how much she would like it not to be. She really missed some of the powers Darquesse had had, but far from all of them. What she missed most was the flying. She felt so free up there among the clouds, as if nothing in the world could reach her up there.

"Come on, I think you owe me a service in return given that I helped both you and the Skeleton Detective a few weeks ago with those new magicians who would use you to revive Abyssinia."

"Neoterric. They are called neoterric's. And _he_ actually has _a name_."

"Oh, but forgive me because I forgot such an incredibly _important name_." Darquesse laughed madly. "And why can't I call him for what he really is? Never mind that he has a name, he _is_ after all, a skeleton detective."

"He does not like anyone calling him that", murmured Valkyrie, looking down at the floor.

Darquesse laughed again. " _He_ does not like it, or _you_ do not like it? Admit it Valkyrie, you hate that nickname on him. You hate it that I speak condescending of him when you can hear it. You do not want someone to nigrescence his name. Aren't I..."

Darquesse was interrupted by a fist in her face and flew backwards into a wall. She shook her head to disperse the fog that had ascended from the hit and looked up at Valkyrie where she stood in the living room of Gordon's house. To think that she could not yet look at this house as her own, even though her uncle had been dead for over thirteen years. She grinned at Valkyrie's face expression.

"Don't you dare to speak about him like that! _Nobody_ is allowed to talk condescending about Skulduggery!"

"How sensitive you can be, then! That remarkable he is not, Valkyrie. Or maybe I'll start calling you Stephanie instead? What do you think about that?" Darquesse continued to grin and Valkyrie was prepared to hit her again when Darquesse suddenly disappeared.

The house turned silent and Valkyrie understood that Darquesse (not the real Darquesse, but more a memory of her that still remained) had given up. _For now._ She could come back anytime when Valkyrie at least expected it. She had done it before and would continue to do so.

"Damn it! Why does she do this? What does she want me?" Valkyrie dragged her hands through her hair in a frustrated gesture while a velvety voice behind her said:

"Who's doing what towards you and who's this 'her'?"

Valkyrie winched and felt how her cheeks became red of embarrassment. She had not heard when Skulduggery came in and could not help wondering how much he could have heard. In a failed attempt to conceal her embarrassment, she rubbed her hands over her face once before turning to her mentor and best friend.

"Hi, Skulduggery! I did not hear you come. What are you doing here?"

Valkyrie knew that if Skulduggery had had eyebrows he would have raised them now. She could see it in the way he leaned his skull and in the way he stood. "What now? Do I have to have a reason to visit my partner and one of the few people I respect and trust the most?"

"So now, suddenly, and without any apparent reason, I have been degraded into an ordinary human being, instead of being an entirely unique creature that nobody understands and which was about to wipe out the whole world?"

"My dear Valkyrie, if you have not noticed, I'm actually a walking, talking and living skeleton and there's only one of my kind, so you can not directly claim that you're the only one that's unique. However, you're right in being unique about being the strongest and most dangerous magician that has existed thus far."

"Thank you, that really helped raise my confidence."

"Do you mean that?" wondered Skulduggery with a doubtful tone.

"To one hundred percent _no_. Are you kidding?! Who would feel better to hear that you are unique in a bad way?!"

"I thought that by now you had met so many freaks that nothing could surprise you anymore. But, but, I've been wrong before, although I have to admit that it does not happen often and that I get equally surprised every time it happens."

"Does your ego never stop growing?"

"Valkyrie, how long have we known each other? Given all the time we have spent, and will continue to spend, together, I think you should know the answer to that question by now."

Valkyrie could not help laughing. At the same time as she did, she realized that she had not laughed so spontaneously and wholeheartedly for a long time. It was only now that she understood how much of her thoughts on Darquesse and her increasingly intrusive presence had upheld her lately. It also made her realize that Skulduggery knew something was not as it should be in her life but that he had decided not to say anything until she was ready for it.

Which in itself meant that his unannounced visit to her was not that weird. It was not as if he had never done such things before under all the years they had known each other.

"Nice to hear you laugh again." Valkyrie knew that Skulduggery smiled, even though he could not show it by pulling on his dimples. She could hear it in his voice.

"Was it really that long of a time since I laughed last?"

"Well, laugh you have done time to time, but it was a long time since I heard you laugh unprovoked and to something that only you would find funny."

Valkyrie shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "Well, you might say that I have had a lot of things to think about. I am still a little rusty after being away from you and everyone else for a few years and I still do not really know how to control my new powers. It's not like I can ask anyone else about them."

"You are right about that, but in the few weeks that have passed since you decided to come back you have unusually quickly found your way back in the game again. I'll admit I am impressed, there are not many who can do such a thing after what you have gone through, Valkyrie. You are strong, brave, beautiful and unique in a good way. Never forget that."

Without Valkyrie being able to stop it, she laid her arms around Skulduggery and buried her face in his chest. It was not long before the tears began to pour down her cheeks, despite how much she tried to stop them. Skulduggery said nothing, just laid his arms around Valkyrie and hugged her back. He let his head rest against hers and he let his arms slowly stroke her back in a soothing gesture.

They stood so for a long time. The only thing that could be heard was the weak rustle of clothes that gets stroked of a hand and the low sobs from a crying human.

When Valkyrie had calmed down, she realeased a bit on her grip on Skulduggery and took a step back to take some time to sort her thoughts. Just as she would lift her head and apologize to Skulduggery, she felt how someone stood behind her. Before she understood what was happening, she felt a hand dig into her head and how a headache she had never experienced before rinsed through her.

Valkyrie shouted and would have fallen backwards to the floor if Skulduggery had not kept his hold on her waist. She closed her eyes and tried to understand what was happening when a familiar voice filled her entire head and excluded all other sounds.

" _I knew I'd get my chance sooner or later. I knew sooner or later you would lower your guard and give me a golden opportunity to get my will through. Did you really think I'd let you be, Valkyrie? Did you really think I was going to let you go back to a normal life after all that you made me go through? Hardly!"_

Valkyrie was filled with such a pure and clear fear as she had not experienced since the time Darquesse had taken over her for the first time. She could not utter a single word, the only thing she could do was to scream out her pain and lay her hands around her head in a desperate attempt to alleviate the pain she felt.

" _Go away, get out of my head!"_ Valkyrie shouted back to Darquesse inside her head, but the only response she received was an evil, malicious laugh.

" _I do not think so, Valkyrie. Not now when I finally have gotten my chance. Go ahead, try to throw me out if you think you can, but I have to warn you: I'm stronger now than I was before I first appeared."_

" _How can you be? You're just a ghost, a memory of the_ real _Darquesse!"_

 _"Because I've gotten strength from you, of course. The more you talked to me, the more you acknowledged to yourself that I was real and every time you have used magic, my strength has increased. I've been making sure of being by your side more often than you think. I've taken a part of all the energy you have used when you exerted magic and let it flow into myself."_

Valkyrie could feel how Darquesse rotated in her head and explored her feelings and memories of things that had happened to her both a long time ago and recently. She tried to find a good place she could put Valkyrie in while she took Valkyrie's place and was going to implement what it know was that she wanted to do.

" _NO!"_ Valkyrie shouted out her fear, anger and despair in that single word, and let herself loose from Skulduggery's arms while she was fiddling backwards with her arms still pressed against her head.

The pain in her head became so serious that she realized that if she did not get rid of Darquesse _now_ she would faint from the pain and then Darquesse would take over immediately. Valkyrie could not let it happen! She had let Darquesse take over her too many times already in the past, and she was not about to let her do it again!

" _OUT OF MY HEAD NOW!"_ Valkyrie screamed and at the same time released her magic as a magic shield around herself and her body.

The room was filled with a white light that quickly spread outwards as Valkyrie realesed more and more magic for every second that was passing. As soon as the light had arose, it began to dissolve and shrink until the only thing left was a small circle of light surrounding Valkyrie's body.

Skulduggery screamed Valkyrie's name but received no response. He slowly approached her, but was stopped by the shield she had laid around herself. At this point, Valkyrie floated a few centimeters above the ground and had creeped into fetal position with her hands pressed against her head while new tears of pain poured down her cheeks.

Slowly, Skulduggery put his hands on the shield and began to talk with soothing voice to Valkyrie, without knowing if she could hear him or not. "Valkyrie, I'm here. Everything will be fine, I promise. Listen to my voice. Everything will be fine, okay? I'm here for you, and will always be. 'Until the end', right? You are my partner and best friend and nothing is going to separate us."

Slowly, very slowly, Valkyrie raised her head against Skulduggery's voice, but she kept her eyes closed. "Skulduggery, is that you?"

"Yes, Valkyrie. I'm here, everything is fine. Please come back to me. We will solve whatever is bothering you. You can talk to me about everything."

Valkyrie nodded and slowly opened her eyes. At that moment the shield was dissolving around her and Skulduggery caught her in his arms before she hit the floor. He stroked a strand of hair from her face before asking "How are you?"

Just when Valkyrie was about to answer, Skulduggery felt a presence passing him behind his back, but when he turned around, nobody was there. He again turned to Valkyrie after having made it clear that no one else was there except them.

"I have... been better..." Valkyrie muttered and shivered. "What happened?"

"I'm the one that should be asking you, Valkyrie. You started screaming and holding your head as if someone was trying to take over you. Before I understood what had happened, you evoked your magic and surrounded yourself in a magic shield. I managed to reach you and caught you at the same time as the shield was dissolved. I guess you ran out of power."

Valkyrie nodded but made a grimace in the next moment, when a slight pain in her head went through her. "I remember now..." she muttered and shivered again.

"You have a lot to explain to me, am I afraid, Valkyrie."

Valkyrie nodded and looked Skulduggery in his eyes before she said "Darquesse is back."


	2. Feelings

Skulduggery said nothing, he was just staring at Valkyrie. She could see on him that he did not want to believe in what she was saying, _could not_ believe in what she was saying, because Darquesse had been banished to another galaxy and could not come back. She thought, after all, that the earth was no more since they had used Sensitives to plant fake memories in her.

"I understand that this comes as a complete surprise to you Skulduggery and that it was probably the last thing you thought you would hear when you realized I had a problem on my throat, but the thing is that I speak the truth. Darquesse is back."

"You're right, Valkyrie. I really did not expect this. How is that possible? And what does she want?"

"Well, what she wants, I do not know, but on the other hand, I'm glad to say that it's not the _real_ Darquesse, but more her ghost. Or as she herself likes to call herself 'a left behind memory with powers.'"

"How long has this been going on?" Skulduggery's voice changed tone and became more admonising while he sounded worried.

"For a while..." Valkyrie confessed. I saw her for the first time when Lethe and the other Anti-Sanctuary guys began to show up. I have no idea why she has appeared or why I'm the only one who can see her. At first I thought she was just a brain ghost that I had created, but it turned out quite quickly that this was not the case. She believes I owe her a service in return since she helped us defeat Lethe. It was she who made him stiffen and gave us a chance to stop him by stretching her hand into his head and unleash energy. Kind of the same thing she did to me now, though the difference was that _whole she_ went into my head instead of just one body part."

Skulduggery nodded. "I understand. I also wondered how you could know exactly when we were going to attack Lethe. Not because I do not trust you, but more because I could not understand what happened. I assume that help can really come from the most unlikely places."

Valkyrie laughed, even after all that just had happened. This was one of the reasons she loved being in Skulduggery's company; He always made her laugh, even if something terrible just had occurred. He made her feel she could do things she did not think she could because of the simple reason he trusted her. They stood up for and never let down each other.

Valkyrie had not even hesitated when Skulduggery became evil for a few days and went with Lethe and the others in the Anti-sanctuary. She had never given up hope on him, she knew she would get him back.

And she had too. They would be with each other _until the end_.

Without saying anything, Skulduggery lifted up Valkyrie and brought her to the kitchen downstairs. Valkyrie was just about to protest and say she could walk herself, but regretted it the moment she tried to get up and the dizziness overpowered her. She realized that she had used more energy than she first believed, so she lay back against Skulduggery's chest and closed her eyes.

Strangely enough, the lack of a beating heart just made her relax more. She could no longer imagine Skulduggery with a beating heart, even less with a body. She loved him as he was.

When they were in the kitchen, Skulduggery was about to put Valkyrie in one of the chairs by the kitchen table, but Valkyrie clung to Skulduggery. She felt so safe in his arms and did not want to leave the confidence he gave her. "I'm afraid, Skulduggery. What if she's coming back? If she can get into my head once, she can do it again. I do not want to go through everything again..."

"Sch, Valkyrie. You have nothing to worry about. I'm here and as long as I'm here I'll protect you. Now that I know who we are dealing with, I also know what to look for. Maybe I can not see her, but I can feel her. When you banished her from your head, I could feel how a presence passed by me for in the next second disappear. If I could feel her then, I'd probably be able to feel her again."

Valkyrie nodded and released reluctantly her hold on Skulduggery. She let him put her down on the chair and watched while he was preparing a cup of hot tea to her. When the tea was done and stood in front of her, she pulled the lovely smell in her nose and sighed by relief over such a casual thing like being able to drink tea in peace and quiet with someone you like.

"You know? This is a reminder of the first time we met. You had me in your arms and gave me tea then too, do you remember?" Valkyrie smiled at the memory and took a sip of the tea. It tasted lovely. Skulduggery was still as good at making tea as he had been 12 years ago.

Skulduggery laughed silently and nodded. "The difference now is that you have become significantly heavier than you were when you were 12 years old."

Valkyrie stared at Skulduggery. "Do you mean I've become _fat_?!"

Skulduggery laughed again. "No, absolutely not. You're still as thin and slender as when you were 12. The weight difference simply has to do with all the muscles you have got since then."

"Oh..." said Valkyrie and blushed. She stared down in her tea mug and did not know what she should say. She felt so stupid.

Skulduggery put his hand, that usually was covered with a glove, over Valkyrie's and pressed it tenderly. He said nothing, but only held Valkyrie's hand in his. After a while Valkyrie looked up and met Skulduggery's gaze. In his empty eyesockets, she could distinguish many emotions even though Skulduggery theoretically speaking could not feel anything at all. Pride, security, joy, love but also concern. She knew that Skulduggery could probably see something similar being reflected in her own eyes.

Valkyrie took a second drink of her tea and gave Skulduggery a smile that she hoped would show him how much she loved him and how much she appreciated his friendship. She did not know what she would have done or where she would have been if she had not had Skulduggery by her side.

As if Skulduggery could read her thoughts, he gave her hand a new tender squeeze and bent his head in a way that told Valkyrie he was smiling. Still none of them said anything, since they both felt that they did not have to use words to understand what the other was feeling.

 _That's how it always has been_ , thought Valkyrie. _We have always been able to feel each other's feelings and moods without having to express them in words. I've never been able to feel completely free except when I'm with Skulduggery. He makes me dare to be myself instead of having to lift up a false facade like I do with many others._

The comfortable silence continued in Gordon's house while the young woman and the living skeleton looked into each other's eyes. They both felt as if time had stopped around them. As if they were the only living creatures left in the world. Nothing else mattered anymore, except the two.

 _Or that was at least what Valkyrie hoped that Skulduggery felt._ She could not be imagining, or? She could not be the only one of the two that felt... _whatever it was that she thought she was feeling?_

Just when Valkyrie opened her mouth and was going to ask Skulduggery if he felt the same, a voice in her head interrupted her. Valkyrie froze with a half-open mouth and could not produce a single sound. She felt as if someone had hit a button inside of her head that caused her whole body to fall into some kind of coma. She could not move at all and she started to panic. She felt just the same as when she was suffering from claustrophobia.

" _Do not think that I am giving up that easily, Valkyrie. I told you that I think you owe me a service in return. Since I helped you fight 'the bad guys', I was thinking that you could help me with a little something."_

Valkyrie tried to move, tried to talk, tried to warn Skulduggery, but she could not do anything. No matter how much she struggled, she could not even make such a simple thing as moving her eyes. She could only continue looking into Skulduggery's eyesockets with a half-open mouth. She could only hope that the fear she felt was reflected in her eyes, thereby pre-warning Skulduggery that something was about to happen.

" _Do not try to warn the skeleton detective, Valkyrie. If you do, I will kill you and take over forever. We do not want that, right? It will be more fun like this, don't you agree? I know you, you work as best in crisis situations when the adrenaline pumps around your body and all your minds are strengthened. Even if you do not want to admit it to yourself, you've always searched for danger. You simply can not get enough of it. Skulduggery is the same, that's why you fit together so well. You can not survive without that high. You can not live without it, it's what makes you both want to continue to live. It's what makes you feel_ alive _."_

" _You're lying! You do not know me or Skulduggery! You're just a memory, you're_ not _her! Stop believing that you can accomplish something! Why would I like to help you? I do not have to pay back for anything! You had a choice and you chose to act. That does not mean I have to pay back to you, Darquesse! Get out and let me be!"_

" _Haha, do you really think it's going to be that easy,_ Stephanie _?"_ Darquesse laughed and pronounced Valkyrie's given name with such a sugary voice that Valkyrie realized that she had something sinister going on.

What it was, Valkyrie did not know...

Suddenly Valkyrie saw Darquesse. She stood next to Valkyrie with her left hand deeply burried in Valkyrie's skull, while she let her right hand lay over Valkyrie's and Skulduggery's intertwined hands on the table. Before Valkyrie had time to react, she saw how Darquesse conjured up a white lightning resembling Valkyrie's magic and that she let pulse for a few seconds before it was searching its way up along Skulduggery's arm.

At the same time as the lightning reached Skulduggery's chest where his heart once had been seated, it exploded in a bright light, and Valkyrie more felt than saw how Skulduggery flew backwards over the floor, away from her. She felt how Skulduggery's grip on her hand loosend and she could first hear the sound of the chair that hit the floor and then hear the sound of bones rolling over a wooden floor.

" _SKULDUGGERY!"_ Valkyrie screamed and felt that whatever Darquesse had done with her body released enough to let her scream her mentor and best friend's name and get up from the chair.

First, Valkyrie could not see anything but a white light that enclosed the entire kitchen, but after having managed to blink a few times, she began to distinguish more and more. Soon she saw enough to determine that Darquesse was no longer standing beside her, but had moved elsewhere. Valkyrie quickly made sure that she was not in her head and when she noticed that this was not the case, she tried to encourage her body to move forward and, to her surprise, it did just that.

"Skulduggery!" cried Valkyrie and looked around. It did not take long before she caught sight of him. He laid on his stomach in the hallway, which separated the kitchen and the living room. He did not move and Valkyrie felt how her belly knoted at the sight.

Was he...?

Quickly, before she gave herself enough time to finish that thought, she ran over to Skulduggery's lifeless body and kneeled in front of him. Since she could not feel for a pulse to determine if he was still conscious or not, she did the only thing she could think of. She shook him and when she did not get any response she turned him around and put him on his back instead. She put his skull in her knee and put her hands around his cheekbones.

"Skulduggery, do you hear me? Please answer!"

A faint groin could be heard and, to Valkyrie's incredible relief, Skulduggery slowly began to move. He lifted his right hand and put it on his chest where Darquesse's magic had hit him.

"That hurt, I want to promise..." he muttered and slowly rubbed his skeleton hand where he had been hit. "For just being a memory, she is unusually strong..."

"Skulduggery, sorry... I should have told you directly when I saw her for the first time. I never thought she could go so far or be so strong... I should have understood that something was going on at the same time as I began to feel more tired and exhausted than usual after using my magic... I should have..."

"Valkyrie, stop. You know as well as I do that even though you would have told me about her from the beginning, we had not been any closer to the truth than we are now. We still do not know what she wants and neither you nor me had probably linked your exhaustion with her. We both probably would have thought that your fatigue was due to the fact that you had used too much magic at once and that your body needed a longer time to recover."

"Maybe that, but still..."

"What have I said about that word, Valkyrie? We do not use any 'buts' here. What has been done is done and we can not change it even how much we wish we could. What have I told you about such situations?"

"That I'll learn from my mistakes."

"Oh, but _how sweet_! You two are such love-birds, am I right?" Darquesse said, stepping out of the shadows with an evil grin on her face.


	3. Taken Over

Skulduggery tried to get up but had not regained his strength yet. He looked the way he felt Darquesse's presence but could not see her. Still, he knew that she stood there before him and Valkyrie. "Valkyrie, I want you to tell me if she says or does anything. You have to be my eyes."

"She... she thinks we behave like lovers... and she grins."

Skulduggery snorted. "I understand that she does. She always wanted to see me on my knees and if she could, she would make me pray for mercy. Unfortunately Darquesse, it will not happen. I know you are fully capable of taking over Valkyrie if she would allow it or if you force yourself on her, but that is something _I_ do not intend to allow. Even if you are just a by-product that the real Darquesse has left behind, does not mean that _you_ can or may do what she wanted. I'm not going to allow anyone else than Valkyrie to decide her own destiny."

Darquesse turned to Valkyrie. "Does he never stop talking? Does he really think he can stop me? He can not even _see_ me!"

"She wonders if you never stop talking and if you are serious when you say you'll stop her since you can not see her", said Valkyrie, hugging Skulduggery's hand that still laid over his chest.

Without answering, Skulduggery raised his free hand and urged wind that he threw straight at Darquesse. Darquesse, who did not see this coming, fell backwards and rolled over the floor into the living room.

"What the hell?!" she screamed and stood up. Her eyes shone with anger and she conjured lightning in her hands that she threw away towards Skulduggery.

Valkyrie reacted instinctively. She pushed Skulduggery to the side the second before the lightning beam would have hit him and instead got hit in her own side. She shouted of pain and rolled around one turn before the hallway wall stopped her rolling. She put her right hand over her right side where she had been hit and looked up just in time to see Skulduggery get up on his feet while Darquesse walked towards him with a pleased grin on her face.

"This will be interesting. How is he going to fight me now when you can not help him? He managed to hit me just because he saw where you looked and figured out where I stood." Darquesse laughed and conjured lightning again. "It will be a pleasure to hear him ask me for mercy."

Darquesse raised her hands into the air and threw out the two lightning beams she had in her hands against Skulduggery. Valkyrie was just about to scream a warning but she had just opened her mouth before the first beam missed Skulduggery with a few millimeters and the other hit his face.

Skulduggery tumbled backwards, but soon got back his balance and threw away a fireball that he conjured between his hands where he thought Darquesse was. Unfortunately, he was not even near her, and he understood that quite quickly when Valkyrie did not utter anything but a headshake.

"Damn it..." muttered Skulduggery and focused on reading the air in an attempt to find Darquesse's position.

"Does he not understand that it's meaningless?"

"Shut up!" Valkyrie roared at Darquesse and tried to get up, but the pain in her side was too bad. "Just shut up..."

"Oh, aren't we a bit feisty today? _Poor, little, Valkyrie..."_ Darquesse said the last thing with a child's voice. "Grow up, Valkyrie! You've been through worse things before. Or wait, could it be that your ego got a little bang? Could it be that you are ashamed that a memory has succeeded in stopping you with just a single well-hit blow, and with the same magic as yourself? A magic you thought you were alone about having."

"You... do not know what... you are talking about..." Valkyrie wheezed between clenched jaws and once again tried to get up and this time succeeded by taking support against the wall.

"Don't I? My dear Valkyrie, I think I definately do just that. Remember, when it comes around, I am a part of you, after all. Darquesse is a part of you and since I'm a part of _her memory_ , it means I'm also a part of _you_. Go ahead, you may deny it how much you want, _but it does not change anything._ We are the same, Valkyrie. If you were not so _stubborn_ , you would understand that too."

"Believe me when I say this, Darquesse: I have already had this conversation with the _real_ Darquesse many times before she was banished from Earth, and I still feel the same as I did then. I am Valkyrie, daughter of Melissa and Desmond Edgley and big sister to Alison Edgley. I am a sorcerer with a unique ability that nobody knows where it comes from or what it, _I_ , can do and I am also best friend with Skulduggery Pleasant, the Skeleton Detective.

No one but myself decides how to live my life. I fight the wicked and I help those who need it. It's true that I love the excitement, the rush, the feeling of adrenaline that passes through my body when I'm in danger and the adventures I've experienced during the 12 years I've been dealing with magic. I'm part of that world, but _that world_ is also _a part of me_. This is something you can not understand, since you have not experienced it yourself. I can not explain it to you and I'll admit that I feel sorry for you who do not get a chance to experience it the way I've done."

"Are you done?" Darquesse had put her arms across her chest and had lifted her eyebrow, as if she did not care about what Valkyrie said. As if that weren't bad enough, she still smiled satisfying.

Before Valkyrie had time to respond, Skulduggery's fist hit Darquesse straight in her grinning face. Darquesse's head bent back with such force that if she had been human she probably would have broken her neck. As it was now, the only thing that happened was that Darquesse bounced back a couple of steps and holding her nose while she growled angrily between her hands.

"I'll kill you, detective! I'll kill you slowly and I'll force Valkyrie to watch while I do it. I'll make you twist in pain!"

"Valkyrie, did I hit her? And if I did, what is she saying? I bet she is really angry at me by now."

Valkyrie nodded. "Yes, that you can surely say. She says that she will kill you real slowly and force me to watch when she does it. She shall also make you twist in pain, apparently."

Skulduggery returned to Darquesse. "I do not think you have done such a great job so far to make me ask for anything. The only thing you've managed to make me do is to moan a bit in discomfort. If you ask me, it's so far from making me ask for mercy as you can come."

He nodded as if he thought he had just been making a really good speech and turned to Valkyrie again. "By the way, I liked your little speech you held for Darquesse just now. I could not have done much better myself. A bit selfish maybe, but who am I to say something about being selfish?"

Valkyrie smiled despite the pain. "Thanks, I've learned from the best."

Skulduggery opened his mouth to answer when his attention was directed away from Valkyrie to the living room table that came rushing at him at a great speed. He set up a magic shield with the help from wind magic but still fell backwards in to the kitchen. At the same time as Skulduggery disappeared, Valkyrie drove off Darquesse's leg who came towards her and responded with a kick of her own.

Now they were both in a close combat mode that consisted of kicking, fisticuffs and dribbles. They always tried to get inside the defense of the other, but since they were basically one and the same, they read each other and could predict what the other would do before they did.

 _This does not work... I have to think of something fast, otherwise she will probably outsmart me first_ , thought Valkyrie and blocked a blow to her face while trying to kick away Darquesse's legs.

Darquesse took a step backwards to avoid Valkyrie's kick, but soon realized that it had been a dribble from Valkyrie's side and she had not time to block Valkyrie's punch in the stomach that made her lose her breath. Quickly, before Darquesse got her breath back, Valkyrie hit her face so hard that Darquesse fell to the floor. Valkyrie turned Darquesse on her belly and sat on her while bending her arms back and laying them across over Darquesse's back. Then Valkyrie pushed her knee against Darquesse's crossed arms and added pressure, causing Darquesse to scream and her eyes to fill with tears.

No matter how much Darquesse tried to get loose, she came nowhere. The more she struggled, the more pressure Valkyrie added to her arms, which in turn made her scream even more. She began to swear and cursed Valkyrie and talked about how horrible her death would be when she was done with her.

Valkyrie did not care what Darquesse said, but all she had in her head was what she would do now when she had Darquesse captured. She still did not know what Darquesse wanted, how strong she _actually was_ or how she would get Darquesse to give up her attempts to take over her.

Skulduggery was suddenly by her side. Valkyrie had been so in her own thoughts that she had not heard him coming. He put his skeleton hand on her shoulder and pressed it. She dared not look at him in fear of losing her concentration and thus giving Darquesse an opportunity to escape. She nodded instead to show him that she knew he was there with her.

"Good job, Valkyrie", Skulduggery had a proud tone and Valkyrie could not help but smile.

"Thank you", she said, daring to throw a quick glance on him.

His suit was in disorder and he had lost his hat some time during the battle, which made him look naked. Besides that, he did not seem to have got any serious damage, none of whom Valkyrie could see, at least.

"How are you?" she asked, again turning her attention to Darquesse, who had stopped struggling.

"Just great. And you?"

"Some bruises and a little sore in the side where Darquesse hit me, otherwise good. The advantage of fighting with someone who is a part of yourself is that you will be quite good at figuring out what they will do to you next and thus avoiding the worst punches."

Skulduggery chuckled and bowed down next to Valkyrie so that their heads were at even height. "Is she lying under you?"

Valkyrie nodded. "Yes, she's on her belly with her arms crossed over her back and every time she's struggling, I'm pushing down my knee. Right now she stays quite calm. I think she has understood that I'm not going to let go of her until I've figured out what to do with her. What do you think?"

Skulduggery tilted his head. "Well, she has caused both you and me a lot of harm and she planned to take over you in order to implement a plan that nobody besides herself knows what it is. What do you think is a reasonable punishment?"

"I do not know. It is not like I can take her to China and say that a forgotten memory from Darquesse that only I can see has attacked you and me and that I would like to lock her in."

"You're right about that. If we let her go there is the risk that she will try to attack us again and not give up until she will get her will through. The problem I see is how we should make her stay calm, stop attacking us and how we can keep her captive."

"Should we not be able to handcuff her, then? Then she can not use her magic and, therefore, is not as dangerous and easier to handle."

By those words, Darquesse began to fight even more frenetic than she had done before. Valkyrie had to use her entire body weight and strength to hold her down. "Go to hell both of you! I'm not going to let you handcuff me! Do you really think I'll calm down because of that? Then you're mistaken, Valkyrie! I'm not a common criminal that you can just put in a cell just to then throw away the key! You said it yourself, nobody except you can see me."

Valkyrie did not answer, but just kept holding Darquesse down. She turned her head towards Skulduggery but did not let go of her eye contact with Darquesse's back. "Skulduggery, give me the handcuffs _now_! I have to use all of my powers just to keep her in control! If she continues to go on like this I will not be able to make her stay still for much longer!"

Skulduggery brought his hand to the back of his suit trousers and pulled out a pair of handcuffs which he held out towards Valkyrie. Valkyrie let go of Darquesse's one arm and instead pushed down her elbow while she received the handcuffs. She quickly put the first one in the arm she just had let go of and had just caught Darquesse's second arm when Darquesse tapped her head back and hit Valkyrie straight in the nose, causing it to break. Valkyrie just recorded the feeling of warm blood that ran down her mouth and chin before Darquesse turned her upper body against Valkyrie and pushed her hard against Skulduggery.

Valkyrie hit Skulduggery's chest and moaned in pain when the collision caused new waves of pain to radiate from her broken nose. She looked right up to see Darquesse take off her handcuffs as Valkyrie had put on her before she threw it away with a look of disgust in her face.

"I said that it would not be that easy, did I not, Valkyrie? This is your weakness. As soon as you get the upper hand, you think that the battle is over and that you have won. The battle is not over until either yourself or your opponent says that it is. One might think that you should have learned that by now, but I guess that unfortunately, that is not the case.

It's a pity, actually. We could have been a really good team, you and me. I may be a memory of the real Darquesse, but that does not mean I want the same thing as she wanted. I've actually started to like your world, Valkyrie. I do not want to destroy it, which was what _she_ wanted."

"What do you want then?" Valkyrie managed to say between the pains.

"Oh, the one who is waiting will see, right?" Darquesse grinned and went to Valkyrie.

Valkyrie pressed against Skulduggery and tried to conjure her magic, but could not. She was in too much pain and could not concentrate enough to conjure up even the smallest beam of lightning. "Do not come closer! Let me be!"

Darquesse laughed and bowed down in front of Valkyrie. "Do not worry, I will not hurt you. Just relax, this will not hurt at all, _I promise_."

In the same moment as Darquesse stretched out her hand against Valkyrie's head and allowed it to continue into her brain, Valkyrie saidd "Skulduggery! Whatever happens from now on I want you to know that I love you!"

Darquesses laughed and disappeared in to Valkyrie and the last Valkyrie was aware of before everything became dark around her was Skulduggery hugging her and whispering in her ear.

" _I love you too."_


	4. Trapped

When Valkyrie regained consciousness, she was confused. She had no idea what had happened since she could not remember anything at first. The last thing she remembered was that she had been talking to Skulduggery in Gordon's house at the kitchen table and that he had made tea to her.

She shook her head in an attempt to get the fog surrounding her head to disappear and then looked around. She was in her parents' house, in the room that had been hers before she had moved into Gordon's house. Everything looked just like it had had done last time she had lived in it.

Why was she here? How could she have come all the way here from Gordon's house and where was Skulduggery? She listened, but could not hear anything. Not the birds' chirping, not the sound of cars that passed or even the buzzing from the element that had always made a sound, whether it was on or off.

 _It's like I'm in a bubble where no sound can get in_... thought Valkyrie and shivered without knowing why.

She got up slowly and looked around. Everything seemed to be as it should, but something within her told her something was wrong. It was as if she were looking at a picture where a little detail was taken away or wasn't right, but she could not pinpoint what it was.

"Hello?" Valkyrie listened, but did not get any answer. The echo of her voice bounced between the walls of her room. It sounded so lonely and spooky that she shivered again.

She went over to the bed and laid her hands on the blanket. It was real, she could feel the textile against her hands and she could also smell the washing powder that her mother used to use. She then went to the desk and looked in all the boxes. They were empty, which surprised her. As far as she remembered, they had been stuffed with a lot of things last time she had been here. Why would her mother have cleaned them up without asking her first?

She walked through the rest of the room and quickly discovered that all her things were gone. Her room had been reduced from being a young girl's room to becoming only an empty shell.

 _This has to be why I thought something was not as it should,_ thought Valkyrie. _But_ why _? Why aren't there any things here? Mom would never have cleaned my room like this without first asking me. Never!_

Valkyrie walked toward the door and pulled down the handle. She surely would find out what her mom was doing! The only problem was that the door did not open even though she pushed down the handle. She wrinkled her eyebrows and tried again, with the same result. Valkyrie laid her ear against the door and listened to sounds that could reveal if someone else was in the house except her, but she could not hear anything.

 _Everything was silent as the grave..._

Now she began to get really worried. She felt how her claustrophobia began to remind itself, but quickly shook it away. She was not going to panic! If she did, she would never find out what had happened to her. If she could only remember what had happened before she woke up in here...

Valkyrie laid all her body weight against the door and began to ram it, hoping it would give way. To her disappointment, the door did not give way the slightest. She then went to the window and tried to open it, with the same result as the door. Although the hasp was off, it was impossible to move the window _at all_.

"What's going on, really?!" shouted Valkyrie straight into the room, running her hands frustrating through her hair. She started walking back and forth in her room, trying to desperately remember what had happened before she woke up in here. "Why don't I remember anything?! I know it's something I'm missing, something important, but I just can't remember what it is!"

At the same time as she had said that she heard a mocking laugh filling the room. It came from all corners of the room, it seemed to fill up the whole room as if it was the room itself that laughed at her.

"Who's there?!" Valkyrie twisted around, but could not see anyone.

The laughter continued and Valkyrie became aware that _she recognized it_. It was her own laugh, but how was it _possible_? How could her own laughter fill the room when it was not she that was laughing?

A sharp and dazzling pain filled her head and forced her to her knees. Valkyrie moaned in pain that soon became a moan of surprise and fear when everything came back to her. She could at once remember everything that had happened at Gordon's house before losing her consciousness.

She recalled how Darquesse tried to take over her the first time, but how, with the help of her magic, she managed to banish her from her head, but how Darquesse returned afterwards. She remembered how she and Skulduggery had been fighting against Darquesse and how they had almost caught her, but that at the last moment she had managed to get free. The last Valkyrie could remember before waking up in her old room was how Darquesse had laid her hand against her head and that she had warned Skulduggery as well as what he had answered her.

" _Whatever happens from now on, I want you to know that I love you..._ That was the last thing I said before everything got dark. His answer to me was that he loves me too... I wonder if Skulduggery understood what was happening..." Valkyrie snorted at herself and could not help laughing despite the pain that thundered in her head. "Of course he understood, it's _Skulduggery_ I'm talking about!"

Valkyrie sat down on the bed and laid her head in her hands while the pain slowly disappeared. She wondered how Skulduggery was doing and if Darquesse had injured him. None of them knew what Darquesse wanted. Her goal was perhaps to get rid of Skulduggery for the simple reason that if he was not on Valkyrie's side, no one or nothing could stop her.

It was after all thanks to Skulduggery that they had managed to defeat Darquesse.

Valkyrie closed her eyes and saw Skulduggery in front of her as he had looked when they sat together at the kitchen table and talked before all hell broke loose. How he leaned his head against her and how relaxed he had seemed. How _secure_ he had looked, as if he finally had found the sanctuary he had been looking for so long.

She thought back on the silence that had occured between them. How just _that_ silence had said so much about their feelings for each other. She just could not believe that Skulduggery had _not_ felt what she had felt. There was something between them, something none of them had wanted or had _dared_ to talk about before.

Something that could change their relationship for all future...

A smile appeared on Valkyrie's lips. She found herself thinking back on things that had been said, looks that had been given, light caressing that now afterwards might not have been quite friendly, but that had suggested something different and in all the silences that had resembled the one that had occurred in the kitchen earlier in the day.

 _Strange that I have not noticed these things before..._ Valkyrie thought for herself where she was locked inside her old room inside her own brain. _That I have not understood before what has been going on for such a long time. That I have not understood how I_ really _feel for Skulduggery..._

Tears were formed in her eyes and Valkyrie irritatedly stroked them away. It didn't serve her nothing to cry, it wouldn't help her find a way to get out of this prison. She could tell Skulduggery about her feelings when she came out, but _first_ she had to try to figure out some way of how she would get out of here. There _must_ be a way and she would find it.

She looked around in the room again. Was there anything here that she could use as a weapon? Nothing she would not have to make herself or break anything to build one, she noticed.

Valkyrie walked up to the window again and looked out. The view was the same as she remembered from when she last had been here. The difference this time was that nothing moved outside. No birds or other animals, no cars, no people who was walking outside in the sun. She could not even hear or see the wind, which in most cases would make the trees wade.

 _I wonder..._ she thought and put her hand on the window. She imagined Darquesse as she had seen her before she woke up in her old room. She imagined she had her in front of her right now and that she wanted to talk to her.

At first nothing happened, and Valkyrie was just about to remove her hand from the window when the glass began to shine. The road, the trees and the pier disappeared and instead she could see Skulduggery's face. He talked to someone, but she could not hear what he said. However, she could see on his body language that he was angry and worried.

The more she watched him, the more Valkyrie began to understand what was happening. She had somehow managed to connect herself to her own eyes as Darquesse had taken in possession (just like the rest of her body) and she could see what Darquesse saw. She and Skulduggery had some kind of argument and Valkyrie suspected it was about her they argued.

Valkyrie managed to read a few words here and there of what Skulduggery said, which meant that she understood the meaning of what was being said between Skulduggery and Darquesse. As Valkyrie understood it, Skulduggery required Darquesse to let her go, then disappear and never come back, otherwise he would force her and even use voilence if required.

This should have made Valkyrie afraid, but it made her heart float over with love to this skeleton that had taken her under his wings. From Skulduggery's words, Valkyrie understood that Skulduggery knew that she was still in there somewhere and that he would do everything to get her back.

 _Even if he would have to hurt her body seriously._

Tears of joy, relief and gratitude poured down her cheeks. Where would she had been today if she had not had Skulduggery? She did not even dare to think about it, so scary she found that idea.

Valkyrie strained again and wrinkled her eyebrows in concentration. This time she imagined Darquesse's voice instead of just her appearance. She imagined that she could hear what was said between her and Skulduggery, that she was in their conversation and it did not take long for the sound to begin to trickle into the room. It was weak at first, but soon she could hear everything that was said as clearly as if she had been standing there with them.

"Stop looking so surprised, detective. I have already said that I have some of Darquesse's powers, which in turn means that healing a broken nose are not any problem for me. You should actually thank me for being so kind. But enough talking about me now, I think we should be going back to what we were talking about recently.

Valkyrie. What makes her so special, anyway? She is no different from any other magician, except she was close to destroying the world a few years ago. She could, by herself, do it now as well, _perhaps_. Who knows what her new powers can develop into in the future if she continues to explore it?"

"You underestimate Valkyrie, Darquesse. She is _not_ like any other magician. She is generous, brave, fearless, knows where the boundaries go but are not afraid to cross them if needed. She dares to acknowledge her mistakes and stands for them, she claims to be no better than anyone but knows that looks can be deceiving."

Darquesse laughed, and considering Skulduggery's body language, Valkyrie suspected Darquesse also had raised an eyebrow. "You sound like you are describing a heroine, which we both know she is _not_ and never will be. Why don't you just say what it is? Why don't you confess your _real_ feelings for her? Or are you worried what she will say? That she does not feel the same for you? Or maybe you do not _dare_ to admit them to her in fear of that you two will end up the same way as your wife and child?"

Skulduggery did not answer. He did not move a muscle. He just continued watching Darquesse, which made Valkyrie a little worried. Why did he just stand there? Had he become so strongly reminded of his own and his family's death that he had become paralyzed? No, that could not be right. Skulduggery had never before made it an obstacle to him. He had lived for so long by now that he had learned to live with that pain and not let it be to his disadvantage.

"Don't never dare to compare my wife and my child with the relationship I have with Valkyrie. What I and Valkyrie have is unique, even though it is similar to the relationship I had with my wife and my child. However, there are too many differences to make it even _come close_ to any of my other relationships I've had over the years I've lived. I feel things along with Valkyrie, whom I haven't felt with anyone else and that's what makes our relationship so unique."

Valkyrie smiled proudly and would have hugged Skulduggery if she could. To hear that he felt the same for her as she did for him made her happier than she had been for a very long time. This meant that she wanted to escape more than ever and she would not give up until she either got out or died. She could not see any other options, because she was _not going_ to stay in here!

" _Forgive me then_ , but I thought that because none of you dare take the step, I thought I'd do it for you. I thought it might be a relief for Valkyrie to know in her last moments of life that her love feels the same. Don't you agree with me, _Skeleton Detective_?"

Everything turned deadly quiet. The silence was so compact that you could not even hear a pin fall. No one was moving in with what felt like eternity, but in fact was only a few seconds.

Skulduggery threw himself towards Darquesse with such speed that neither Darquesse nor Valkyrie had time to react. Valkyrie saw through Darquesse's eyes how the distance to Skulduggery became longer and how the world suddenly twisted. Valkyrie had to force herself not to let go of the window when the dizziness came and instead concentrated on what happened in Gordon's house.

Before Darquesse got up, she got a new blow from Skulduggery that made her fly straight into the wall. Valkyrie prepared herself for pain, but soon realized that she did not feel anything. Not even the slightest tingle.

 _It's probably because I'm not_ there _in the same way as them_ , she thought.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Darquesse, who moaned in pain and then gave up a scared gasp. When Valkyrie looked up again, she could see Skulduggyery's face in front of her and what she saw in it caused Valkyrie to shiver. All the feelings that could usually be distinguished in there were now gone. The only thing that was left was an emptiness that Valkyrie had only seen a couple of times during her time with Skulduggery.

She understood that if she did not do anything soon, Skulduggery would call forth _Lord Vile._

"Skulduggery, don't do it! If you release Vile now when you're so angry he'll take over you and maybe you'll kill me!" Valkyrie shouted and squeezed herself as close to the window as she could as if she thought she could squeeze out of the window if she only tried hard enough.

Skulduggery did not hear her and Valkyrie saw to her horror how shadows began to form around Skulduggery and then turned into a black armour as dark as the blackest night. It surrounded whole Skulduggery now and she could no longer see anything of her friend and mentor among all shadows.

"No!" Valkyrie screamed and put her second hand on the window.

At the same time as Valkyrie screamed, she heard how Darquesse shouted, but she did not shout out of horror but _pain_. Valkyrie could not see what was happening, but she could well _imagine_...

She closed her eyes and concentrated when she realized that she did not have long if she would manage to stop Skulduggery before doing anything that he would regret for the rest of his life.

She imagined that _she_ was back in her own body, that it was _she_ who felt Darquesse's pain, that _she_ was the target of Skulduggery's anger. When she felt ready, she opened her eyes.

* * *

 **A cliffhanger! I know, I am so evil ;) I really hope you enjoy the story this far! I gotta admit that I am and that it is taking a turn not even I did see coming! Please review and tell me what you think, I really appreciate it! :)**


	5. Until the End

**Warning! This chapter is the reason why this story has a M-rating! _Strong sexual content_** **in basically the whole chapter. If you can not read about Valduggery or VilKyrie (Vile x Valkyrie) _please do not read this chapter._** **You have been warned and I would really appreciate no hating because I ship this pairing!**

 **Thanks in advance and to all Valduggery fans out there: ENJOY! :)**

* * *

The first thing she was aware of was that she was pinned up against the wall with the help from some shadows that held her arms and legs. Then came _the pain_. It shot up through her arms and legs. It felt as if someone had cut her thighs and forearms with a knife. She moaned from the pain and bit herself in the lip while she lifted up her head. At the same time as she did that, there was a new pain rising on her left side, which caused her to scream. When the worst pain faded, she could concentrate on what was in front of her. What she saw got her belly to tie itself and she felt sick.

 _Lord Vile_ stood in front of her in full armour. She could not see anything behind the armour except the shadows twisting like snakes around him and making him look like a shadow from your worst nightmares that has come to life. There was no humanly in Vile, everything was just emptiness...

"Skulduggery", Valkyrie whispered and felt how tears of pain and concern tried to get out of her eyes, but she managed to keep them back.

She received no response. Vile just kept staring at her with his empty eyes and let the shadows wrap around the two. He did not seem to care about anything, in addition to causing her pain, believing that she was Darquesse, his worst enemy who had been close to killing him several times.

Valkyrie knew that if there was anything that Vile _never forgot_ , it were the people who had managed to stand up against him.

She tried to get free, but as soon as she moved, the shadows were immediately there and pushed her back against the wall. _Hard._ Valkyrie understood that she could not escape from Vile's grip by force. She must try to get in touch with Skulduggery in some way and make him understand that she was back in her own body. That it was Darquesse who was locked in her brain and not _the other way around_.

"Skulduggery, please listen to me. It's me, Valkyrie. I'm back in my own body again. I have managed to lock in Darquesse at the moment. You do not have to do this anymore. Please come back to me! You're hurting m..."

A shadow flied out of Vile's armour and hit her over her mouth so hard that she felt how the lip burst and how blood filled her mouth. She gasped and got her mouth full of her own blood, which she quickly spitted out on the floor because she would not swallow it and risk choking.

When she looked up at Vile again, he had leaned his head the same way that Skulduggery always did when he was curious and wondered about something. The guesture got her heart to beat harder in her chest of hope. Maybe Skulduggery had managed to grasp something deep in there among all darkness? Perhaps he began to understand...

Just as Valkyrie opened her mouth to try and contact Skulduggery again, Vile sent out a shadow that laid itself over her lips to make her keep quiet. She tried to say something, but noticed that the shadow lay like a piece of tape over her mouth and made her unable to touch her lips at all.

Now fear began to creep along her spine. If she could not say anything, how would she get Skulduggery to understand that she was herself again? How would she make him realize that he did not have to hurt her anymore? If she did not reach out to him soon she did not know what he could possibly do with her...

Before she could even consider anything, she felt how a number of shadows slowly examined her body and sucked themself of the blood flowing from her wounds. For every time a shadow got a piece of her blood, Valkyrie could see how a slight shiver went through Vile, as if he enjoyed the taste of her blood.

She blocked her eyes when an insight suddenly revealed to her. _Vile gets excited by my blood. There's something with my blood that makes him excited…_

As if Vile had read her thoughts, he took one step closer to her and grabbed her chin so she would not be able to look away and thereby break their eye contact. In his eyes, Valkyrie could see a lust that she had never seen before, neither from Vile or Skulduggery. She understood that the lust was aimed at her personally and that it somehow came from her blood.

She came to think of that time Dusk had bitten her and had said that her blood was special, but that he had not wanted to tell _in what way_. Was it something like that Vile felt right now? Had her blood somehow awoken something in him that had been slumbering for a long time? Something that neither he nor Skulduggery had experienced for hundreds of years...

Vile took another step closer to her and he was so close that their faces were only a few centimeters apart. He said nothing, did not move, did nothing... Just stared at her with those empty eyes that Valkyrie had never seen any kind of emotion in before, but that now radiated that animal desire...

Valkyrie found herself losing herself in his eyes, and she felt how her body relaxed, as if it knew something her brain had not yet understood. As if her body prepared for what was to come...

A shadow stroked her face slowly while another found itself inside her sweater and a third touched the outside of her thighs. Soon she had several shadows that stroked her body both outside and inside her clothes. Valkyrie could not help it, she gave off a faint moan of pleasure. She could not explain it, but in some way the coldness of the shadows made her warm inside and filled her with a lust of her own that she had not felt before. She wanted more, even though she knew this was _wrong_. It was _Skulduggery's hands_ she wanted to explore her, not _Lord Vile's shadows_.

How much she tried to resist, she could not lie to herself. _She enjoyed Viles's caressing and wanted more._

Suddenly the shadow disappeared over her mouth, and she could finally take a deep breath again, but it did not take long before the inhalation became a new moan of pleasure. Vile had let one of his shadows wrap under her bra and was now in full swing of caressing her nipple that had become hard by the touch.

"Oh..." was all that Valkyrie came to say and then felt how another shadow joined the first one and took care of her second nipple.

Shivers of lust went through her and Valkyrie pushed herself closer to Vile. God, what a rush! She had never felt anything like this before and she could not get enough of it. She wanted to feel Vile's caress all over her body, she wanted him to explore her entirely, both inside and out.

She had closed her eyes but opened them when she felt how the shadows around her arms let go of their grip. Just as she was about to look up to see what was happening, she felt how Vile pulled off her shirt and bra. As soon as they were out of the way, the shadows returned again and held her firmly against the wall again. Valkyrie froze from the coldness that hit her bare skin, but she soon had other things to think about.

A pair of human lips were pushed against hers and started kissing her heavily. Without thinking about it, Valkyrie kissed them back. She understood that Vile must have activated Skulduggerys façade that allowed him to get a human face. The feeling of feeling Skulduggery's/Viles's lips against her was magical, to say the least. He was such a good kisser, much better than Fletcher or Caelan had ever been.

As the kisses progressed, Vile's shadows continued to stroke her bare breasts, stomach and the outside of her thighs. Valkyrie thought she would crack from all the feelings that passed through her at the same time. She was so horny and could not get enough of Vile's caresses, while a small part of her tried to resist. It was not Vile she loved, it was Skulduggery and _he_ should be the one who caressed her in this way. At the same time, it was a third part of her who wanted Vile to cut her and continue to let the shadows drink of her blood since she had seen how much he liked it.

 _She wanted him to feel the same pleasure as herself._

Valkyrie shouted of both pain and pleasure when the two shadows that caressed her nipples cut a small section across her breasts and began to suck her blood. She felt how Vile shook against her mouth and she could not hold the smile that spread on her lips. Vile had somehow read her mind and had understood exactly what she wanted. She did not know how he did it, but she did not care. She was just glad that he also could feel pleasure.

Soon Valkyrie felt how her pants was pulled off along with her panties and she shivered out of relief. "Oh, Skulduggery... Yes... I want you..."

A pair of hands lay around her hips and Valkyrie felt how the shadows helped keep her up by laying themselves around her butt. She opened her eyes and looked into Vile's now human eyes. In them she could see how much he wanted her and that he had wanted it for a long time. Valkyrie finally understood how long Skulduggery had wanted to tell her about his real feelings for her and how much he had imagined about this moment when they both would became one...

"Take me, Skulduggery... I'm yours..."

Vile positioned her and took a stronger grip on her hips before pushing into her with full force. Valkyrie screamed of pain and could do nothing but gasp the first few seconds before Vile began to move inside her. In the moment he did it, the pain changed to pleasure and Valkyrie moaned low.

"Oh, God... Yes!" She moaned and pressed herself against Vile to make him come deeper inside her.

At that very moment, several things happened at the same time. Valkyrie felt as if she was being watched and when she opened her eyes, she looked up and saw Darquesse standing next to her with a happy smile on her lips. At the same time as she saw Darquesse, Valkyrie heard how Vile was gasping and she felt how the shadows surrounding her disappeared. She would have fallen on the floor unless a pair of skeleton hands had laid themselves around her and had embraced her hard.

"So, are not you satisfied now, Valkyrie?" Darquesse asked and continued to smile. "I've just got you both to _finally_ go all the way together and admit that you've gone from being just friends to something more. You should actually thank me, though it may not feel so right now.

By the way, unless you failed to figure it out yet, it was _this_ that I had planned all the time. I knew that something dramatically would be needed for you to go all the way so I simply made you think I would take over you and continue where the real Darquesse had stopped. Clever, right?" Darquesse laughed and turned around to walk away when she once again turned to Valkyrie.

"Yes, one more thing. Before you resumed controll I took the opportunity to fix with Skulduggery's, or should I say, Lord Vile's?, armour a little. Every time he evokes it from now on he will have a human body beneath it. Take the opportunity to enjoy each other's company now, okay? I think you will be having a _very_ nice time together..." Darquesse laughed again before she disappeared and Valkyrie knew it would be a long time before she saw her again.

"Valkyrie, how are you? Let me look at you!"

Valkyrie turned her attention away from the place where Darquesse had disappeared to the voice that was talking to her. She expected to still see Vile, but was surprised when it was Skulduggery that was in front of her. He seemed worried about her and touched her to investigate her injuries.

"I'm fine, Skulduggery. There is nothing wrong with me." Valkyrie smiled and hugged Skulduggery.

"I... Oh my god, I should not have... I mean, we..."

Valkyrie put her finger over Skulduggery's teeth to make him become silent. "Skulduggery, _I'm fine_. You did not hurt me, I promise. I actually _wanted_ you to cut me. I _wanted_ you to caress me, damn, I _even wanted you to have sex with me_. Which I _still want_ by the way, but the point is that you did _not do anything to me when you were Lord Vile, who I myself did not want you to do._ "

Skulduggery said nothing for a long while. He just looked down at Valkyrie and kept holding her naked body. He had wanted to tell Valkyrie for a long time how he felt for her and had thought to do it, but... She was not supposed to find out about it in this way!

"Valkyrie, I hope you understand that it was not my intention to have sex with you. I just wanted Darquesse to let you out and was not going to hurt you that much, but then... When you came back and Vile got a taste for your blood... I do not know what happened. I could not control him, or no, _I could not control myself_. There is something special about you, Valkyrie, which I just can not get enough of, even how much I strain myself. As soon as I let my feelings towards you take over, I could not stop myself. When I then saw how much you enjoyed my touch and that you wanted more, that you wanted _me_ , then..."

Valkyrie nodded. She understood exactly what Skulduggery was talking about. She knew too well how hard it was to control ones powers, especially if they were as strong as Darquesse and Vile's.

The silence spread over them, but it was no unpleasant or embarrassing silence but an _understanding_ silence. Valkyrie and Skulduggery looked each other in their eyes and in them they could see the love they felt for each other.

At the same time they stretched against each other and when Skulduggery's teeth met Valkyrie's lips they both sighed with the excitement that rose within them. Valkyrie let her tongue caress over Skulduggery's teeth and soon he opened his mouth so she could explore its inside.

Valkyrie was not late to oblige and she fully enjoyed the feeling of exploring Skulduggery. She let her hands caress his face, his throat and his neck, then opened up the buttons in his shirt. She wanted to see Skulduggery as he was without clothes. She wanted to caress him warm. She wanted to give him pleasure as he had given her pleasure when he had been Lord Vile.

Skulduggery shivered from Valkyrie's touch and pressed himself harder against her while letting his skeleton hands touched her body. He took it gently and carefully. He did not want to stress anything between them. He did not want to hurt her as he had done when he was Vile. It did not matter that Valkyrie had said she liked it. In Skulduggery's eyes he had hurt her in a way he found disgusting, especially considering that he had liked their first time together to have been an evening they would not have forgotten in the first place. One night where they could have been able to devote themselves fully to one another...

Valkyrie took out her tongue from Skulduggery's mouth and instead began to give him small, light kisses along his neck and down to his clavicle. She undressed him the unbuttoned shirt and began to caress his chest and spine with her fingertips.

Skulduggery moaned high of pleasure and placed Valkyrie in his knee where he began to bite her ear, neck and clavicle, which in turn caused _Valkyrie_ to moan in pleasure. She began to swing her gender against his pants and shivered by the pleasure it gave her. She was so horny and all she wanted was to feel Skulduggery _in her_.

Then it hit her. What was it that Darquesse had been saying just before she disappeared? _"Before you resumed controll I took the opportunity to fix with Skulduggery's, or should I say, Lord Vile's?, armour a little. Every time he evokes it from now on he will have a human body beneath it."_

Valkyrie activated Skulduggery's façade and made sure he looked her deeply in her eyes. She knew that what she would now suggest for Skulduggery probably would not make him too happy. "Skulduggery, I know how we can complete this. I want you to turn yourself into Lord Vile again, but that you only keep a small amount of armour on you like, for example, a vambrace."

Skulduggery stared with horror at Valkyrie. "Valkyrie, I can not... I will not be able to control myself. Not as I am now. I'm going to..."

Valkyrie silenced him with a kiss. "Trust me. Darquesse left a small farewell gift to us before she disappeared. Believe me, you will _love_ it. _Until the end_ , right?"

Skulduggery said nothing for a while, but just continued watching Valkyrie deep in her eyes. At last he nodded. "Okay, I trust you. _Until the end_."

Shadows began to materialize around Skulduggery and it did not take many seconds before he was completely covered by the armour. The only thing Valkyrie could see from Skulduggery were his eyes that radiated such love to her that she felt how her heart swelled. She could never have imagined this day when she and Skulduggery finally confessed their love for each other!

The armour began to disappear more and more until the only thing left of it was a small piece of a vambrace stuck on Skulduggery's right forearm. Instead of his usual skeleton-self, he instead had a human body. Valkyrie gasped when she saw it and laid her hands on Skulduggery's now human chest. She slowly began to caress it and laughed happily when she realized that Darquesse had been right.

 _Skulduggery now had a human body!_

Skulduggery looked down on himself and gasped in surprise before lifting his eyes to Valkyrie. "How is this possible?"

"A farewell gift from Darquesse. She asked me to tell you to enjoy each other's company now that we finally have found each other. Do not let me wait anymore, Skulduggery. I want you..."

"Then I will not let you wait anymore, Valkyrie..." whispered Skulduggery in her ear, took off his pants and underwear and kissed her before he slowly, oh so untidily slowly, pushed himself in her.

"Skulduggery..." whispered Valkyrie and pressed against his limb. She began to move up and down alongside it, but soon became frustrated when Skulduggery grabbed her hips and only allowed her to move slowly against him.

"Calm down, we have all the time in the world, Valkyrie. Let's not be hasty..." Skulduggery smiled and bit Valkyrie in the lower lip as he continued to steer her slowly over his limb.

Valkyrie laid her arms around Skulduggyery's shoulders while she was bending herself backwards to in this way make him get deeper inside her. It was not long before Skulduggery began to move faster within her, but not as fast as Valkyrie would have liked it.

 _Not even close._

Suddenly shadows were revealed around them that took hold of Valkyrie's wrists and twisted around them. Before Valkyrie had time to even open her mouth to ask Skulduggery what he was doing, the shadows pulled up Valkyrie's hands above her head and held them there.

How much she tried, Valkyrie could not move her arms and when she looked at Skulduggery, he had a mischivious grin in his face. Valkyrie immediately understood what he had in his head and it only made her more excited.

"Since I do not have any handcuffs on me, I thought that this would be a good replacement. What do you think, _Valkyrie_?" Skulduggery pronounced her name with such a velvety voice that Valkyrie shivered with pleasure.

"Do whatever you want with me, Skulduggery. I totally trust you..." Valkyrie gave Skulduggery a smile and bent down to kiss him.

When the kiss was broken off, Skulduggery took a harder grip on Valkyrie's hips and said with a lovely voice "I take that as an invitation, Valkyrie. Hold on now, this will be a night to remember..."

Before Valkyrie had any time to respond, Skulduggery began to move in and out of her with such passion that Valkyrie felt as if she was melting from all the pleasure that Skulduggery gave her. She tried to move at the same rate as him, but found it rather difficult since she had her arms tied up. She compensated for this by placing her legs around his waist and using her leg strength to push herself towards and away from Skulduggery's limb.

The shadows that circled around Valkyrie's wrists were soon joined by several who caressed her arms, throat, breasts, waist and legs. Wherever Valkyrie looked, she could not see anything but black, waving shadows who did everything they could to give her as much pleasure as possible.

"Oh, Skulduggery... You're so beautiful... Do not stop... with your treatment..." Valkyrie moaned between the waves of pleasure that passed through her.

Skulduggery laughed low and bent down over Valkyrie. "I'm not going to do that either..."

Skulduggery let his tongue caress Valkyrie's neck and back of her ear before giving her a light bite between the throat and the shoulder. This caused Valkyrie to shiver and she pushed herself more hard against Skulduggery while she began to purr satisfying.

Skulduggery looked up at Valkyrie with a doubtful expression in his face. _"Valkyrie Cain, are you seriously lying under me and purring?"_

"Do not blame me, it's you that's making me! I can not help it that you're a great _lover_ who makes me feel things I've never felt before."

"Surely I'm fully aware that I'm superb about most things, but I _never_ think I've managed to make a woman _purr_ in pleasure."

"Someday should be the first, darling." Valkyrie smiled and pushed Skulduggery towards her to kiss him.

The kiss was soon transformed into a tounge war. It was as though none of them could get enough of the other's mouth. In the midst of one of the more fierce kisses, Valkyrie felt how she was raised for the next second to be pressed against the same wall she had been pressed against when Skulduggery had developed into Lord Vile. The shadows surrounding them both helped Skulduggery position her as he wanted her without having to interrupt the kiss once.

The thrusts became faster and harder. Both now panted high against each other's lips and pushed themselves closer to each other. Both were at their last strenght and they wanted to enjoy each other as much as they could before it ended.

"Skulduggery... I think... that I..."

"Let it come, Valkyrie..." whispered Skulduggery against her throat.

Those words prompted Valkyrie to let go. She came with such power that her entire body seemed to explode like a fireworks of pure pleasure. She shouted out her beloved name before collapsing against his chest.

Skulduggery was not late to follow. He pushed himself as deeply as he could inside Valkyrie before releasing his seed inside her. He whispered Valkyrie's name in her ear the moment he came and gave her a kiss that he hoped contained all the feelings he felt towards her.

They both sinked to the floor, but did not let go of each other. They laid their foreheads against and kept looking each other in the eyes. There they could, without having to say anything, see their feelings towards the other being reflected.

"I can not understand that we have not understood how it has been before..." whispered Valkyrie and laughed. "Imagine how much fun we could have had..."

Skulduggery could not help but laughing. "Oh, just you wait, Valkyrie. This is just a foretaste of what I can do. If you will allow me, I can show you both one thing and another..."

"That may in that case have to wait for another time. I'm totally exhausted. You really know how to make a woman to be delighted, Mr. Pleasant..."

"Obviously. I have had _450 years_ to learn about both one thing and another about you women."

Valkyrie laughed again and laid her head against Skulduggery's chest. "You can change back now, if you want. Even though I admit that I like this side of you, you're essentially a skeleton and that's _the skeleton_ I fell in love with."

Skulduggery did not answer, but just let the shadows retreat into him and soon after that, his human body also disappeared. Valkyrie could feel the coldness of his bones lying against her body, but the coldness just made her feel... _at home_.

Yes, so it was. She would always feel at home with Skulduggery. With him she could always feel confident in the knowledge that he would do _everything_ to keep her safe.

 _He would love her no matter what happened._

"I love you, Valkyrie Cain."

Valkyrie smiled and looked Skulduggery in the eyes before she said "I love you too, Skulduggery Plesant."

"Until the end?"

"Until the end."

* * *

 **A really cheesy ending I know, but hey, why not? :) I know that I took some liberties with how Viles armor works, but I thought that it would be a nice idea to try! ^^ And I thought that since Darquesse is so strong, then what is to say that she could not give Skulduggery a full temporary body?**

 **I really hope you have enjoyed this story and please leave a review, it helps me a lot!**


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